Lending Tree Complaints & Reviews - Scam

Lending Tree

Scam

I used Lending Tree for a refinance and feel their business practices are unethical at best. After speaking with a loan officer, I was given some numbers over the phone and was told I needed to lock in right away so as to not let this excellent rate slip away. I felt the pressure to act quickly and agreed to pay the $600 non-refundable deposit (which I still have no idea what I received by paying this money). I did not receive a Good Faith Estimate (GFE) until after the $600 was charged, but was told my closing costs would amount to approximately $4, 000 on a $180K loan. From that point I supplied all the necessary documentation and set up a time for their approved appraiser to come to my house and perform the appraisal. I had to keep emailing my service representative, Geo Garcia, to verify he had all the necessary documentation. He was pleasant enough to deal with when speaking to him on the phone. I then received a copy of the appraisal and it met the qualifications for the loan. At this point, I was assured by Geo that everything was ahead of schedule and that it should be clear sailing for the rest of the way. I checked in a few more times (as I never heard anything back) and he stated it was in underwriting and that just takes time (approximately 3 weeks). On the last day I had to sign the paperwork to meet the deadline before the rate expired (the rate I had paid $600 to lock in), I received a call from Geo stating that someone with Lending Tree did not agree with the appraisal (the appraisal done by their approved appraiser) and was therefore revaluing my property at $40K less than its appraised value. This dramatically reduced my loan and I was upset and confused. I made it clear that I didnt feel this was correct and requested to speak with the person who made this adjustment (as Geo did not claim to understand why this change was made, only that my loan would now need to be adjusted). Geo stated that I could not speak to anyone about this, but I was allowed to give Lending Tree comparables that justified the value reached by their own appraiser. I did this (following all of their guidelines regarding proximity to subject and date of sale). Geo acknowledged that the comparables seemed to justify their original appraisers estimate, but it would need to be reviewed by people I could not communicate with. He stated this could take up to three business days to complete the entire review process. He also explained that the 30 day rate would be able to be extended to accommodate the time required for the review process. After emailing or calling every day, I finally was told (five business days later) that those controlling the decision rejected the comparables as well as their own appraiser. I was still able to get a loan through them, although it would be for $30K less, the closing costs would actually be higher (now $7K) and I would need to pay an additional $400 to lock the rate for additional 10 days (as my rate lock had now expired). Additionally, there was no way to get back my $600 deposit back if I decided to not refinance my loan through them as a result of the change in the loan amount.

I want this to serve as a cautionary tale for those deciding to do business with Lending Tree. They dont care about your loan and once they have your $600, and I feel like they are free do what they like (change the finance charges, decline their own appraisers value by someone who isnt from the same state and hasnt even seen the house) and the service drops precipitously as the consumer has no repercussions and no way of getting back the $600. My greatest complaint was that I was never given an explanation as to why the value of my property was significantly reduced from their own appraisers review by someone in a different state who was neither an appraiser nor had ever seen my property. Do yourself a favor and go with a local bank you can trust or at least an institution that doesnt charge the upfront, non-refundable fees.

Comments

Everyone Be very careful when you apply for Lendingtree.com if you dont get approved then a person By the name Theresa Riley with the lending tree will email you and say if you have bad credit she will hepl. She will ask you to get a western union form and send Evelyn Edwards in Ontario Canada the insurance money. Be avise it is not Lending Tree thats doing that. I notifed lending tree and they told me it was a scam and they are investigating it. I was suppose to have that part of money I sent for my oral surgery and now I am having ti fear for my life because I cant get the money to pay for the surgery I recently filed bankruptcy and it was discharge. So Please be on alert.

EVERYTHING THIS LADY IS SAYING IS TRUE! ITS A BIG SCA THIS SAE SUPPOSE TO BE COPANY DID THE SAE EXACT THING TO BE AND Y FAMILY. I SENT $500 DOLLAR AS PART OF MY COLLATERAL SINCE I WASNT APPROVED AND NEVER HEARD FROM THEM AGAIN.

We purchased a house at the bottom of the market for $215K. The bank appraised it at $240K. 18months later we then approached Lending Tree giving them the benefit of the doubt based on some of the complaints on here. We went through the whole process until they sent out an appraiser who happened to live more than two hours away. Well he appraised the house at $110K. The comps he listed werent even in the same class or bedroom quantity or garage size or even in the same Victorian Heritage Listed housing estate! Wasted $400 with lending tree and took a good hit on my credit score. Dont waste your time. No contact afterwards either, just an email with the valuation and then a letter of denied credit. Total scam!!

Hi, I work for a class action law firm that deals in cases such as this one. We are interested in talking to potential plaintiffs whom have lost their initial deposit to Lending Tree. Please contact me at EddieRKA@gmail.com for further details. I am looking forward to hearing from you.
Eddie